She said NMTI is entitled to the CW funds, but the CNMI DOL secretary is the expenditure authority.
“So I sent a letter to Vicky, asking for additional funding,” McPhetres said. “I gave her a deadline. I told her I want my employees to be back by August 1 so we can have a one-month preparation to open the trade school.”
For FY 2020, the CNMI government received $2.4 million in CW funds.
“I know we still have money from those funds because we only spent $450,000 and our projection for the whole year is $1.3 million,” McPhetres said.
She added that the $200,000 NMTI is requesting will cover the instructors’ payroll for the five pay periods left in the current fiscal year, as well as instructional services such as transportation and student registration.
She said she sent the request to CNMI DOL on Monday.
Employers petitioning for CW-1 permits for their foreign workers pay a mandatory $200 education fee for each permit. These monies are transferred to the CNMI government to fund its vocational education, apprenticeships, or other training programs for U.S. workers.
